Weekly Update for August 31, 2000
When it comes to gardening, it is important to learn to rely on
your own observations and instincts. Besides that infamous "next-door
neighbor" who freely offers so much advice on what you need to do
in your yard, there are lots of expert gardeners writing columns
or answering questions on radio or television. While much of their
advice might be generally sound, they don't know all the details
you know about your own situation. If their advice doesn't sound
quite right to you, you should listen to your inner-gardener. Quite
often when you think it through, taking into consideration all the
input, you figure out the right answer yourself. It's just like
those reports on TV saying there was over an inch of rain in the
area. You have to rely on your own observations or rain gauge since
an inch at the airport or television station can be a sprinkle,
or even two inches, in your own landscape.
This and That
With the exceptions of annual flowers, vegetables and newly seeded
lawns, you shouldn't be doing any fertilizing right now. Trees,
shrubs, roses and perennials all need some time to get ready for
winter. Since annual plants don't over-winter, they can be regularly
fed until they are killed by frost.
Several customers have asked recently about how to get a tree or shrub out
of a container without hurting it when you get ready to plant. It
can be a challenge! No, you shouldn't just pull harder on the top
of the plant. If a plant doesn't slip easily from its container,
try squeezing all around the sides. If that doesn't work, you can
always take a utility blade or sharp knife and carefully cut the
pot away. Once the plant is out of the container, take a few minutes
to examine its root system. If the roots are matted or circling
the outside of the root ball, gently loosen them to break the pattern.
Another option for serious matting is make several half-inch deep
slices through the outer roots. Disturbing these roots encourages
outward root growth once replanted. Be sure to check the bottom
of the root mass too. It is also important to find the root flare.
This is where the roots begin to grow outward from the trunk of
the plant. Sometimes the root flare is too low in the container;
in those cases, the extra soil should be gently removed. When planting,
the root flare should always be at or just above surrounding soil
level.
Ever wonder how that mulberry that is growing out of your arborvitae got there
when there isn't another mulberry in your neighborhood? It's amazing how many
plants are "planted" in your shrubs and evergreens by visiting birds. Birds
ingest seeds along with their fruits or nuts and typically pass the seeds through
their system. As they sit on a branch in your plant, a seed is dropped (in its
own nice little fertilizer package!) onto the soil to continue the cycle of
life. Since a weed is any plant growing where you don't want it, the new mulberry
is now a weed. If you get to it early enough, it can be pulled without hurting
the arborvitae. If it gets too large to pull, you may need to cut it off at
the ground. When it regrows, either keep it cut back until you starve its roots
to death or carefully treat the sprouts with an herbicide such as Roundup.
Bachman's Information Sheets: Fertilizing
Annuals and Perennials,
Fertilizing Trees and Shrubs
Lawns
There is a difference between grass seed mixtures. Once you know what
variety of grass seed you want, consider buying only quality seed.
How can you identify quality seed? Look at the label. There you should
be able to find out how fresh the seed is, including everything else
in that package such as any weed seeds and inert (not seed) matter.
Bargain grass seed often is contaminated with too many weeds or it
has too much inert matter to make it a true bargain. It may also have
a lower germination rate. You're likely to spend the dollar to two
you saved when buying a bargain seed dealing with weeds or reseeding
next season.
Fall is a great time attack weed problems in the lawn, but keep in mind that
post-emergent herbicides cannot be used on newly seeded grass. If
you are seeding this fall, you will have to wait until next season
to use an herbicide on dandelions or creeping charlie. If you aren't
seeding, keep an eye on the weather. It's still too early now, but
once we have had a few weeks of consistently cool nights and, ideally,
a light frost or two, weeds are more susceptible to herbicides than
any other time during the growing season. The onset of fall signals
plants to stop spending their energy growing and begin storing carbohydrates
for winter. While they are in this mode, they absorb more of the
herbicides you apply. If you are someone who hates to use chemical
herbicides, applying them this time of year greatly minimizes how
much you will have to use to control weeds.
Fall is the best time for aerating and dethatching, if needed.
Aeration is used to loosen compacted soil. By far, the most effective
aeration is accomplished with a mechanical plug or core aerator.
Aerators with spikes actually cause as much compaction as they relieve,
leaving you no better off. You may not like the look of thousands
of cores lying on your lawn for a week or two as they break down,
but those cores contain a wealth of microorganisms that have now
been brought up to the surface where they will help digest the thatch
layer in the lawn. In fact, unless thatch is more than a half-inch
deep, core aeration the best way to naturally dethatch a lawn.
Bachman's Information Sheets: Lawn Weeds, Creeping Charlie, Crabgrass and Quackgrass
Edibles
A few weeks ago we wrote about how to determine if your apples
are ripe or not. Our answer is if they pull from the tree easily
and taste good, they are ripe. But why do some ripen earlier than
others. That quality comes built into the variety. The type of growing
season we are having influences ripening dates slightly, but only
by a week or two. In our area, we have varieties such as Lodi and
Duchess, which ripen as early as the beginning of August, and varieties
such as Jonathan that aren't ripe until mid-October. Generally,
early ripening varieties don't store as well as later varieties,
but they tend to make great applesauce or pie. If you aren't sure
when your apples will ripen, give us a call and we can look it up
for you.
Insects
Bees and wasps continue to be a problem right now. Since their habits
vary significantly, it helps to know which stinging insect you are
dealing with when you are trying to control them. Wasps are most
easily distinguished by their narrow waists and smooth bodies. Bees
tend to be plumper and hairy. Once you know what you are dealing
with you can find out about their life-cycles and nesting habits
and more effectively target your control efforts. The University
of Minnesota offers an excellent extension bulletin called Wasp
and Bee Control. It can be accessed at www.extension.umn.edu
or ordered directly from the University.
For many gardeners, fall means boxelder bugs. Makes you wonder where all those
boxelder trees are! This time of year the adults leave the trees looking for
a better place to winter and then end up all over our picnic tables, windows
and siding. Your best bet is to wash them off and sweep them up. Next best would
be to use an insecticidal soap as you wash them off. Just make sure the soap
won't stain your siding.
©Bachman's 2000 Mary Henry and Margaret Purcell, Horticulturists
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